Lucky Pehr | Page 4

Does one speak like that in life?
FAIRY. That is love's way of speaking.
PEHR. Love! Then it must be glorious to see it all!
FAIRY. Wait! Now look up there, in the gable window--a single candle
burns, a poor, wretched light. [Tableau.]
PEHR. Poverty! That I know. Show me something pretty!
FAIRY. [Regarding him.] You are pleasure loving. Very well!--Look
again up there, around the same Christmas light--it shines dimly but
warmly on the contented table of poverty.
PEHR. No! I want to see something beautiful.
FAIRY. Really! Is there anything more beautiful than--but, wait! you
shall see--Now look over yonder--toward the castle, where the King
lives. [Tableau.]
PEHR. Oh!
FAIRY. Do you see the beautiful robes, the glittering jewels? Do you

see how the walls reflect the brilliant lights and how in the middle of
winter real roses and blue lilies are in bloom?
PEHR. Oh!
FAIRY. And the young girls, with the flowing locks, who serve wine in
silver goblets--
PEHR. There I want to be!
FAIRY. And now stewards, in white, carry on the dishes.
PEHR. Oh!
FAIRY. The heralds rap on the floor with their staves--the trumpets
sound--[Three strokes of a bell are heard; the tower chamber takes on
its former appearance.] Alas! the time is up. Pehr, do you wish to go
out and taste of life?
PEHR. Yes, yes!
FAIRY. Good and bad?
PEHR. Bad? That I think I know; the good I would learn to know.
FAIRY. You think so? But you shall soon see that all which seems
good is not good, and all that seems bad is not bad.
PEHR. Only let me get out--and away from here!
FAIRY. You may go; but first I want to give you, as a help on your
journey, a gift which will be of service to you. When you have it, you
will have been given more than others, and therefore more will be
required of you at some future time.
PEHR. Let me see it!
FAIRY. This ring has the power to grant you all your wishes--to your
credit, but to no one's harm.

PEHR. That's a fine ring! But what will the old man say?
FAIRY. He is only going to meet with his just punishment--
punishment for his selfishness.
PEHR. Yes, that is just. All the same I feel sorry for him.
FAIRY. Do not grieve for him; I shall watch over his sorrow.
PEHR. Sorrow! Nothing else? Sorrow, he says, is the one pleasure in
life. Let him sit and enjoy it then. I shall probably furnish him with
opportunities.
FAIRY. And lastly, young man, will you take provisions from the Wise
Man?
PEHR. What should they be?--Good advice?
FAIRY. Yes.
PEHR. Alas, I have such quantities of that!
FAIRY. I know that, and I know its fate. Farewell then! May life so
teach you to live that when your journey is over you shall be-- whether
great or obscure; successful or unsuccessful; learned or ignorant--a man,
and above all, a manly man. Farewell! [Fairy disappears in column.]
PEHR. [Alone.] Well, Pehr, you are going out into life! Others before
you have probably done likewise. But is it, then, so difficult out there?
To be sure I have stood on the church roof and watched the throngs of
people down in the street crawl around each other, going and coming.
To me they appear so quiet and orderly, and I don't see that they
trample on one another, although they are as thick as gnats. That dogs
and apprentices fight sometimes, that I have seen, but grown
folk--never! The old man and I never fight, although we pass each other
on the stairs ten times a day. True, he has beaten me, but I have never
beaten him; and other people may not be so bad either, if the truth were
told. Wasn't there a fire the other day in the house of a rich merchant

and didn't a lot of poor wretches come running from all directions, and
didn't they go up to the rich man's place and save his goods? Oh, yes, I
saw how they took silver pieces from his table and carried them far out
of the city, where they hid them behind haystacks so the silver wouldn't
be burned up. Wasn't that kind of them? We shall see, we shall see!
Meanwhile, my dear Pehr, you shall go out and have a look at the
world and make use of your gifts. [Examines ring.] Let's see! What
shall I wish for first?
[Old man enters as if through wall.]
PEHR. Oh! so the old man is here. I did not hear your footsteps on the
stairs. Which way did you come?
OLD MAN. [Alarmed.] Did you see?
PEHR. No.
OLD MAN. Let me look at you! [Gazes